mazda bt-50 pickup

yet mazda here in the philippines are just doing the delayed business of technology transfer, here's the new mazda bt-50 pickup, the half brother of the 2009-10 ford ranger...

The BT-50 (model code J97M) is a 1-ton pickup truck from Mazda. It is a larger version of the predecessor B-Series/Ford Courier pickup and is not sold in the Japanese and North American market. The BT-50 was launched at the Bangkok Motor Show on March 22, 2006.

It shares its Duratorq/MZR-CD 2.5 L and 3.0 L Diesel straight-4 engines with the Ranger. In late November 2006, the new 5-Speed automatic transmission with BorgWarner transfer case has been added, as well as side airbags.

The BT-50 received a minor redesign in the first quarter of 2008, with a revised interior and several optional items made standard.

Similarities to the Ford Ranger:

the BT-50 has similar designs in suspension, chassis and cab protection design to the latest model of ford ranger pickups. overall cab design have strikingly very noticeable similarities except for the re-engineered front grille and wheelbases, but overall the BT-50 can be seen to be different in terms of interior trim and styling,  dashboard etc. but seems the parts of the BT-50 and the late model ranger could seem to be very swappable and can be used on both platforms. 

Grill differences between the BT-50 and the ranger

Engines: 

It seems also the BT-50 and the ranger shares the same power plant, both come from a ford-mazda developed diesel engines, in the 2500 and 3000L classes.

mazda MZR-CD 2.5L - this engine has an 89.0 mm (3.50 in) bore and a 100.0 mm (3.94 in) stroke, with a compression ratio of 9.7:1. The crankshaft is now forged-steel and dual-counterweighted. To increase strength and durability of the bore, a new steel-molybdenum alloy is used for the cast-in cylinder liners. This offers greatly enhanced high-heat, high-pressure tolerance as well as reduced friction. The increased stroke of 100 mm, up from 94 mm, and allows a higher final-drive ratio resulting in lower-RPM while cruising to increase fuel economy.

The Duratorq engine is used for the Thailand-built Ford Rangers (J97U). It is a 16-valve DOHC engine of the VM Motori 2500 cc engine, with Bosch common-rail direct injection and a variable geometry turbocharger. It produces 143 PS (105 kW; 141 hp)@3500rpm and 330 N·m (240 lb·ft)@1800rpm. it seems this engine is also being used by the larger models of the BT-50, the 3.0 Model produces 156 PS (115 kW; 154 hp)@3200rpm and 380 N·m (280 lb·ft)@1800rpm.

So far, technical developments between the 2 companies have made many improvements in their porducts such as these models of pickups,  that we see mazda bacolod's sales office is also in the ford motors compound in talisay city, we can conclude some of the Bt-50's exterior parts as well as the ranger's, will become eye candy to iloilo jeep fabricators..